Are These ‘Game Of Thrones’ Characters Alive Or Dead?

So, a lot of people died on Game of Thrones last night — or did they? #MWAHAHAHA

As brutal and bloody as Game of Thrones is, death seems slightly less permanent than it used to. We’ve seen Beric Dondarrion brought back to life with the power of the Lord of Light, Maester Qyburn raise the Mountain from the dead, and an army of undead wights come to life.

With all this in mind, we thought it would be a good time to see how dead all our favorite characters on Game of Thrones are. We’re going to be examining whose lives are in peril, who recently died, and who has a chance to come back to life. Valar Morghulis: All men must die — but who isn’t quite dead yet?

Selyse

HBO

After watching her daughter get burned alive, you can’t really blame Selyse for wanting death’s cold embrace. We not only see her hanging, but we watch her corpse get cut down. If Melisandre hadn’t left camp at this precise moment, we could see an opportunity for one of the Lord of Light’s biggest fans to be resurrected, but there wouldn’t be much of a point.

Myranda

HBO

Didn’t we all kind of cheer a little when Ramsay’s sadistic sweetheart went splat on the cobblestones of Winterfell? While Bran did survive a fall like that, he didn’t land on his skull. And his brains certainly weren’t splattered all over the pavement. And he didn’t make an enormous splat. So, we think that Myranda is quite dead. You can survive great falls on Game of Thrones, but as the Red Viper’s death taught us, you can’t survive a smashed-in skull.

Myrcella

HBO

Because the show is cutting the story from the books that concerns the Dornish plot to oust Tommen and put Myrcella on the Iron Throne, we have to think that Myrcella’s story has run its course. Her death sets up a lot more tension and potential for dramatic fireworks than her survival would. Plus, she bit the dust in a particularly tender moment — and in a way that perfectly mirrors her brother Joffrey’s death in the arms of their mother, Cersei. That said, Sean T. Collins mused over at Rolling Stone that it’s entirely possible that the ever-crafty Bronn was able to lift a vial of antidote from Tyene Sand before the ship left dock. Perhaps he’s the kind of guy who wants a good girl, but needs a bad pussy, but he’s also the kind of guy who’d rather leave Dorne with a vial of antidote than a kiss.

Hizdahr

HBO

Hey, remember this guy? We’re pretty sure that the Sons of the Harpy offed Dany’s sniveling Meereenese fianacé, but our knowledge of the books is giving us pause. In the books, the two do eventually wed and it’s heavily implied that Hizdahr might be connected to the Sons of the Harpy. So, when he enters the scene late, and says something about “making sure everything is arranged,” it’s easy to think that he was secretly behind the Sons of the Harpy attack on Daenerys. He’s stabbed, but his body is never recovered or revisited. We think that the show is minimizing his storyline, but that there is still a chance he survived his wounds and will return with the Sons of the Harpy to take on Tyrion next season. But, yeah, he’s probably dead.

Stannis

HBO

Even though we’re pretty sure Stannis finally faced his doom, we never see where Brienne’s sword falls. The show cuts away from Stannis’ execution and takes us to Ramsay picking off strays on the battlefield. If Stannis is alive it will be because Brienne spares him. At this point, though, he has nothing to live for and his narrative has run its course. His survival would be because of Brienne’s mercy (and in the name of her character’s emotional development).

The Hound

HBO

Yeah, we know we haven’t seen Sandor Clegane, aka The Hound, since Arya left him to die at the end of season four, but we think he’s worth remembering. While he was left in terrible shape, we rather think that he’s still somewhere in the Riverlands, limping around, growling at people. Why? Because we think that the one person who should be able to kill the undead Mountain is his brother come back from the dead. The brothers’ antagonistic rivalry was established in the first season and has yet to be resolved.

Theon and Sansa

HBO

Speaking of falls… We wouldn’t blame Theon or Sansa if they willingly leapt to their deaths, but they purposely held hands and jumped in such a way that they would land on their backsides atop a soft pile of snow. Of course, such a landing will probably hurt — a lot — and Winterfell is still surrounded by enemy forces. They probably made it, but they still have a long way to go.

HOW DEAD ARE THEY: Theon and Sansa are 95% ALIVE, but they will probably wish they were dead.

Arya

HBO

So, Ser Meryn Trant is totally dead — we don’t need to debate that. It doesn’t matter if that Faceless Man is really dead or not because everything in the House of Black and White exists in weird communal space of half-life, half-death. We’re mostly concerned about Arya. When we leave Arya, she is facing the realization that she’s going blind. She’s horrified and there’s the implication that wearing that dead girl’s face may have poisoned her. We don’t think her life is in jeopardy right now, but if she wants to survive her tenure at the House of Black and White, she might have to give up everything that makes her Arya Stark. Whether this means that she’ll erase her personality and join the Faceless Men, or that she’ll delve deeper into her lust for vengeance, we don’t know. We just know things aren’t looking good for her right now.

HOW DEAD ARE THEY: Arya Stark is 100% ALIVE, but her soul is 95% DEAD.

The Mountain

HBO

It’s unclear if Ser Gregor Clegane, aka The Mountain, totally and completely died last season when Oberyn Martell challeged him in Tyrion Lannister’s big trial by combat. Yes, we all remember with horror how he managed to crush Martell’s skull like a styrofoam cup before biting the dust. We also recall that Martell not only fatally wounded him, but stabbed him with a spear coated in manticore venom. Qyburn told Cersei that it would be impossible to save him unless they resorted to unnatural alternatives. The Mountain became a science project and has finally returned as the Frankenstein’s monster of Westeros. Or should we call him “Qyburn’s monster?”

HOW DEAD ARE THEY: The Mountain is 100% UNDEAD. Like, he’s alive, but he should be dead.

Jon Snow

HBO

Jon Snow looks pretty dead, huh? He’s been stabbed multiple times and left to bleed out in the snow. Kit Harington has even publicly stated that he’s not coming back to Game of Thrones. However, I call bullshit. It’s not just that Jon is a beloved character, but he’s too important to the plot to bite the dust. Someone has to stand up to the White Walkers. Someone has to be Azor Ahai/The Prince That Was Promised/Our Zombie Hero Savior, and most of the signs do point to Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark’s suspected love child.

Furthermore, the show has simply offered up too many ways for Jon to come back from the dead. Between wargs and wights, the North is full of mystical means to bring a soul (or body) back to life. However, I think it’s extremely telling that Melisandre returned to Castle Black right before the Night’s Watch mutiny. After misreading the signs about Shireen’s death, she’s got something to prove. Bringing Jon back the way Thoros repeatedly resurrected Beric Dondarrion would give her newfound glory.

HOW DEAD ARE THEY: We think that Jon Snow is 100% DEAD, but we are also 95% sure that he will become UNDEAD.